Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 6:54PM 
little wasabi and taro were taking a rest on a nice autumn day out when the marshmallow bunnies started piling on. they weren't really sure if the bunnies knew that they weren't actually on a seesaw, and so it was never gonna tip in their favour. but it was fun to watch anyway.
Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 8:37AM one of the places that my japanese friends highly recommended me to take my friend was 大内宿 (ouchijuku). the best way to get there is by car, without which, you could get yourself on one of the tour buses that operates on the weekends and be part of the throng of visitors shuffling down the street of ouchijuku. or you could be like us and take the expensive route of hiring a taxi from the train station because the above were not options for us. ouchijuku is essentially a street flanked mostly by omiyage (souvenir) shops. the only different thing about it is that the shops operate in restored thatched-roof houses from the edo period. according to japanguide.com:
Ouchijuku is a former post town along the Aizu-Nishi Kaido trade route, which connected Aizu with Nikko during the Edo Period. Restrictions set by the shogunate required travelers to make their long journeys on foot and as a result, post towns developed along the routes to provide travelers with food, accommodations and rest.
it is recommended that you try the negi soba there. the negi (leek) is the garnish of course, and in this situation the "chopsticks" as well. i gave up trying to fish the slippery noodles with my unwieldy negi half way through the meal. the soba was good though. just like any other soba i've ever eaten in japan.
at the end of the street, you get to climb up a flight of stairs that leads you to a not very big green place. i love green places. the temperature there is cooler, the air is fresher. and i love the sound of rustling leaves, it ranks up there with the sound of papers when they are folded or cut in craft shows. and here in japan, there's almost always a shrine in these green places. and i love shrines. they remind me that there are gods residing in these places.
and in that green place, you get quite a breath-taking view of ouchijuku.
Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 7:35AM 
taken at kawaguchi station when i was visiting kawaguchi high school, 2 hours by train from where i live.
and the best part of the day was when one of the english teachers said, "thanks for coming here! we asked you to come because we really like you!" that made all the reservations that i had (because of the previous visit) all melt away.
Friday, October 9, 2009 at 9:03PM i spent a good part of the week working on caricatures of my colleagues and another project a friend in brisbane asked me to do (which i spent a good part of last week working on as well). and i was reminded of why i didn't choose to go into design full-time 10 years ago. the internal dialogues i have with myself when i'm plain tired but quite unable to tear myself away from the work at hand while struggling to get a stroke right is at the very least to say, colourful.
drawing caricatures (my first time doing it) was fun and i'm looking forward to seeing the reactions to the illustrations. but i will be thinking thrice before agreeing to do caricatures again. i very much prefer marshmallow bunnies and manju birdies, thank you.
i think i won't be touching a pencil in this 3-day weekend.
but i'm going to this exhibition in niigata tomorrow (and picking mushroom too). hurray!
